The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-01-14
A MAN OVERHEARD.
ENERGY AND EXCITEMENT ON DECK
IN A CRISIS.
Failing from IA Terrible Height-A Leap
to the Rescue-Adjustingt the Life Buoy.
A shark in Sight-A Moment of Hor-
ror-Sayed at Last.

A shark in sight-A Moment of Hor-
ror-Saved at Last.
George and 1 crossed over to the lee side of
the deck to see what was the matter, and on
looking up we observed Hunter gradually
making his way out To the lee yardarm; his
head alone visible to we were
standing forward, the sail hiding the rest of
his body from Us. What was he doing! He
~ sitting on the foot rope and working his
way out to leeward to get hold of that gasket
you see flying away to the leeward,' said
George. "He has managed to let it go some
how" "Come in" again roared MIR. Rhoades;
"come in; do you hearP But the lad took
no notice of the order, still working his way
out to recover the gasket. Finally he saw
hirA seize hold of the thin line, and begin to
work his way back with it. Presuming that
he was now all right, George and / crossed
back to the weather side to resume our walk;
but we were scarcely there when a cry from
Mr. Rhoades quickly brought US back again
to our post of observation. Hold on, for
heavens sake!" he said. Here, jump aloft,
two hands, on the royal yard, and get hold
of that boy. Be quick, for heavens saker
TO our intense horror, upon looking up
again we beheld the unfortunate lad hanging
To the bare end of the thin gasket, hanging
in mid air about the height of ninety feet
above the deck. Two smart able seamen
sprang aloft as fast as they possibly could,
one man carrying stout line with him; but
time was precious, every instant of it; the
boy could not possibly hold on to that thin
line for long Up at that gddy height,
swinging out far to leeward the ship
lurched over, the spectacle that poor Hunter
presented was enough to turn ones blood cold.
Get the gig ready for lowering and haul up
the mansail, d" said Mr.. Shaw who, hearing
haA IL
lit is quite impossible for the lad to hold on
much longer, and those men will not be able
To render him any assistance aloft." The two
men and Hamilton, who had run up after
ward were now on the topgalant yard and
quickly making FOR the unfortunate boy
The excitement was intense. The captain
and all hands were upon deck, some frantic
ally hauling up the big mainsail and others
clearing away the gig. | foresaw plainly
what would happen-the lad would let go and
fall into the water, and the boat would be
lowered the moment that the ship was
brought TO the wind and her headway
stopped.
a LEAP To THE RESCUE
My mind was made up the instant. /
resolved To enter the water after him. and
disencumbering myself of my shoes and coat
l awaited the catastrophe. had not long to
wait for just the man with the line had
secured one end of it round thu topgallant
yard and had passed the other round the
gasket upon which Hunter was hanging for
the royal yard had been braced up again to
enable them to reach it, forming running
bowline To slip over the lads shoulders, the
ship gave a heavy lurch To windward and his
body was seen to fall swiftly through the air
ON its way To the sea. Down helms" shouted
tue captain. | waited To hear no more but
catching up life buoy which hanging
ON the poop rail, | leaped overheard with it in
my hand, and was in the water almost as soon
as Hunters body had reached it,
Born and reared up in a watering place. 1
had very naturally acquired a strong taste
for aquatics and freely inClulged in boating
fishing and swimming whenever AN opportu-
nifty afforded me of doing so. My knowl-
edge now stood me in good stead. The body
of Hunter had fallen a considerable distance
to leeward of the ship, and made direct for
the spot with the hfebuoy, intending to place
it over him as soon a. he appeared upon the
surface. Some few seconds elapsed before he
did So, and when he rose glance was suffi-
cient to tell me that he was msenSible With
out IA moments hesitation | seized him by
of his arms before he again sank and
slipped the life buoy over his shoulders, tread
ing water at the same time ana then waited
patiently for the arrival of the boat. The
ship was considerable distance Off, with her
after yards thrown aback, but the boat was
approaching rapidly. The water was beauti-
fully clear and l could see down i'll it for
several fathoms.
SHARK IN SIGHT.
What was my horror when after cOngratu-
lating myself that all was well, | chanced to
cast my eyes down and beheld that most
dreaded of all fish, a shark, slowly swimming
upward toward me. Great heavens. what
was To dos | never experienced such fright
before since | did when beheld that
hideous monster approaching me. In the
water man Is, comparatively speaking, help
less; il Is nearly rs much a. he can do to srs-
tain himself without being obliged TO contend
with n fish in its natural element The shark
seeins Ia know this rs by instinct and will
attack fercely il hungry. | at once threw
myself upon my back and kicked about in the
water frantically, making as much splashing
as | could, hoping in this way to frighten the
horrible creature away. IL did not how
ever. seem To be much intimidated by all NV
smashing bur would swim away for a few
wards and then return. l felt almost sick
with fear and prayed that the boat would
soon come She was approaching us rapidly,
and il could only hold out for another two
or three minutes all would be we'll, but the
ssxertion of kicking about in the water was
beginning to tell upon me.
Il began 10 Ietl wear anu he boat
was being propelled rapidly through the
water by four powerful oarsmen; but |
thought il would never reach us-every
second seemed an hour. The horrible fish
had apparently grown emboldened at seeing
that all my kicking ended in nothing, and
was swimming slowly round and round us,
getting nearer each time. oh those horri-
ble moments of suspense that | endured
while waiting for the boat 70 relieve ME.
Help! help" l shouted, in as loud a voice as
could command; quick, oh! come quick
shark, a shark" | saw the men in the boat
ply their oars with renewed vigor-they had
heard me, and Mr.. Rhodes was urging them
along. A feeling of faintneSs and dizziness
came over me; could no longer bold out. I
felt myself sinking down, down, and remenl-
bered no more, until upon recovering found
myself In one of the saloon cabins with Mr..
Shaw and Hamilton standing, over me.
The shark was driven away through one of
the boats crew thrusting the blade of an oar